Primary Education News

29Jul '14

News Children are suffering as mental health services fail to cope, say parents and teachers

Headteachers say better mental health services are needed, not more guidelines telling schools how to make referralsIt started with anxiety: worries about a spelling test, a school trip or a play he was taking part in. When his mother dropped him off at school, 10-year-old Leo would beg her not to leave. Then he started running out of the building and trying to climb over the surrounding walls."I tried everything I could to get him into class," recalls his mother, Heather Deevey (not her real name). "Some days I'd have to carry him from the car park into the school, with him kicking and hitting me. One time, I found myself lying on top of him, trying to restrain him, while the teachers looked on in horror. I remember thinking: 'If he's going to hurt someone, it's better if it's me'."Born 11 weeks prematurely, and placed straight into local authority care, Leo has foetal alcohol syndrome (mental and physical impairments caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy). He was adopted at 18 months old, and has attachment disorder, which can cause difficulties in managing close relationships. His behaviour can be violent and aggressive. Sometimes he says he wishes he were dead. Continue reading...